Greek Folk Music

Scholars can say with certainty that music has been an important part of Greek society for thousands of years. Philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato recognized the power and pervasiveness of music in the lives of human beings, and they and others wrote extensively on the subject. Through their and others' studies, they sought to understand not only the science behind music but also the effects music has on people in order to create a better society. Their treatises were groundbreaking in the history of the study of music, and greatly influenced later Arab and European scholars. In addition, English owes many of the terms used to describe music to Greek, including melody (from melos), rhythm (rhuthm), and even music (mousiki).

Ancient Greeks performed music to accompany social events, theater, work, and romance. Today, music is still an important part of Greek culture, even if it is not studied in the same manner as the ancient philosophers. The music of Greece can vary greatly from island to island to the mainland and has been made more diverse by the minority populations that live inside Greece (such as Bulgarians, Gypsies, and Albanians). That being said, Greek music can be divided into three regions: the mainland, the islands, and Asia Minor.

Common Threads

While there are only a handful of styles that encompass all three regions (with rebetika the most well known), there are a few common elements found in most Greek styles. The ancient term for music (mousiki) is not generally used, so music is mostly classified by function: A song is called tragoudi, while a dance is horos. Folk musicians generally do not think in terms of scales, and if they do, they are only classified as major and minor. Drones are often used in choral singing, as can be seen in the two-part songs sung by women on Karpathos. Rhythm and meter can vary greatly, where straight meters are typical of the islands, asymmetrical meters are more common on the mainland and in areas closer to the Balkans and Turkey.

Skopos

One interesting concept in Greek music is skopos, a term loosely translated as "tune." The skopos is built upon a melodic skeleton from which the pitches are connected by ornaments and played in a fixed or free meter. In performance, a group of musicians (called a parea) play the tune in heterophony-meaning that they interpret the same melody in slightly different ways. They rarely play polyphonic harmony common to ensembles in western European music.

Instruments A wide variety of musical instruments are used in Greek folk music, and most are also found throughout the Middle East. Aerophones, or wind instruments, include the pipiza and its larger variant the zourna. These are double-reeded instruments with seven front holes as well as a thumb hole. Like the oboe, they produce a bright, sharp tone. The keyed clarinet, called the klarinio, was introduced to Greece in the 19th century and has become the most important melodic instrument on the mainland. Two types of bagpipes are played: the gaida and the tsabouna.

In many parts of Greece the main melodic instrument is the lira, a bowed instrument that sits on the knee when played. Its four strings are tuned in fifths and are either pressed against the fretboard or stopped with the fingernail. Like the lira, the laoutu (lute) is tuned in fifths and is the primary instrument used to accompany melodies. A laoutu player often plays a rhythmic and chordal accompaniment. The santouri and the tsimbalo are two types of hammered dulcimers that also generally accompany the melody.

The bazouki is a long-necked lute with three or four double-courses of strings, meaning that two strings are paired together at the same pitch. Along with its smaller cousin the baglama and a guitar, they form the instrumental backdrop for the song style called rebetika. Rebetika, often somewhat tenuously compared to American blues, arose in urban cafes and, like the blues, featured lyrics on topics such as lost love and destitution. Though its popularity waned following World War II, it enjoys periodic revivals and a nostalgic place in Greek culture.

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